Maybe this will inspire you to keep going!

I've had a lot of failed attempts at trying to lose weight...A LOT of fails. And finally, one success at it. I wanted to share something that I realized with you so that it might help some others with this as well. first, my goal has been weight loss and to get healthy. I have found that there are 3 Stages that you go through while making a lifestyle change that involves changing to healthy eating and starting to exercise.

Stage 1: When you first start trying to exercise and eat healthy. It's new it's exciting and you are totally into it! You are doing it you got big goals and big dreams and big plans and your biggest plan is that you are gonna stick with it this time! In this Stage this is new and easy and you feel motivated to keep going.

Stage 2: It's not new and it's certainly not fun anymore. You begin to miss the old ways. You miss junk food and working out sucks. Your not motivated to keep going and you want to quit. And a lot of people do. This is where they start to fall off the wagon. They start adding cheat meals (which turn into cheat days and then weeks) and they start missing workouts. They are too busy, they have no time, they are too tired or one of 100 other excuses. This is where most people quit. They either quit entirely or they start undoing their progress by cheating. This is the hardest place to be. usually about 3 weeks or so into it.

Stage 3: You didn't quit in Stage 2. You didn't start missing workouts and eating more unhealthy foods. You powered through (and probably hated every minute of it!) and that is how you get to Stage 3. This is where you want to be! The winners circle! The inner sanctum! Because now here in Stage 3 exercise and healthy eating has become a HABIT. You give as much thought to the question "will I exercise today?" as you do to the question "Will I brush my teeth today?" It has become a habit and you are getting it done every single day because it's a habit. At this point you really do enjoy the healty eating-and can easily sneak in some cheats without it becoming a problem and you have even started to enjoy the exercise! You get up in the morning and you know when you will be doing your workout that day-you don't keep to try to find the time. The time has automatically been found and reserved for a workout. In this Stage you just have to keep doing what you've been doing and the physical results will catch up with the emotional and mental results that you have already acheived.

I don't know if there is anything past Stage 3. Stage 3 is where I'm at and it's my first time ever being here and I've been here for about 3 monts or more.

Now, my DISCLAIMER Not every single person will see things this way and not every single person will do things this way and not every single person will find this helpful. But try to respect the idea that some will. If you have a positive comment to make please do so or a constructive critism please do so. If you want to just spew negativity over this then please either message me personally to do it or just go away. negativity includes things like "no, just no" or " that is just wrong" unless its "that is just wrong and here is why...." that then is constructive critism.

Now, my second DISCLAIMER I think it's sad that I have to add a disclaimer to try to keep the thread positive on a motivation and support message board on a website like this-just sayin!